|
BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Stark County and
It's Pioneers
Publ. Cambridge, Ill.
B. W. Seaton, Prairie Chief Office, Book and Job Printer
1876
AS ALWAYS... Biographies will be transcribed upon
request.
CONTACT ME for
Transcription
GENERAL
SAMUEL THOMAS AND FAMILY.
Among the pioneers of Stark county, certainly
General Thomas deserves honorable mention; not only for what
he has done as an enterprising public spirited citizen, but for
what he has been and still is, even at the advanced age of
eighty-eight years.
He was born in the state of Connecticut, Feb. 2d, 1787,
removed to Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, at the age of twenty,
and married Miss Marcia Pettebone of Kingston,
Pennsylvania, May 10th, 1807.
He served his country as captain of artillery, during
the war of 1812, and while thus engaged an incident occurred,
which has been used by some to cast a stigma upon his military
record—i. e., the shooting of James Bird at Erie.
The facts are that Bird, who entered the service
as a member of Captain Thomas' Company, was a wild
frolicsome fellow, "spreeing" at every opportunity, and when
intoxicated, was almost beyond control. On one occasion,
when thus excited by liquor, he committed a grave offence, that
demanded punishment; the colonel of the regiment, (not the
captain of his company) gave him his choice of two things, viz:
either to undergo trial by "court martial," or enlist in the
marine service. He chose the latter. Perry
was then equipping for immediate action, the marine department
wanted men, and as the discipline was much more severe than
among the land forces, it was difficult to obtain volunteers.
Bird fought bravely on the lakes, and was promoted to a
minor office, something like "sergeant of the guard." But
in the fall of 1813, while Perry's fleet still lay at
Erie, he took his squad of men off duty, got drunk and all
deserted. They were followed, arrested and brought back,
and Bird, as the ringleader, was sentenced
as a deserter and shot. Captain Thomas had
returned home soon after Perry's victory, and was at home
when this sad affair occurred, and under any circumstances could
have had no voice in the proceedings, as Bird was not
under his command at the time. Then, who cannot see that
strong drink was responsible for the death of this brave young
soldier, and not the officers whose duty it was to enforce
necessary discipline.
That the subject of this brief notice was not deemed
blameworthy, either in this or any other regard, by those
cognizant of the facts of his career, is proven by the Governor
of Pennsylvania, afterwards (in 1828) confirming him Brigadier
General of the 2nd Brigade, 8th division. State militia,
comprising the counties of
Northumberland, Union, Columbia, Luzerne, Susquehanna and Wayne.
This commission he held at the time of his emigration to
Illinois. He was also twice elected to represent his
countrymen in the legislature of Pennsylvania, and seems to have
filled this position to the entire satisfaction of his
constituents.
But satisfied that "The Star of Empire" would westward
take its way, he bade adieu to the beautiful valley that had
been the scene of his early struggles and triumphs, and
resolutely set forward to found another Wyoming among the then
untrodden prairies of Illinois.
After a toilsome over-land journey of forty-two days'
duration, camping out nights and conscientiously resting on
Sundays, he arrived at the house of Sylvanus Moore,
his brother-in-law, on Spoon river, (where Wyoming now stands)
October, 1834. He purchased Moore's claim, entered
the land at Quincy, June, 1835, and commenced farming and
merchandising. In the spring of 1836, laid out the present
town of Wyoming.
With him came his wife and several children. His
eldest son, William F., (lately deceased at Wyoming) then
a youth of seventeen; his daughter, Ruth Anne,
then l5 years of age, in May, 1836, was married to Giles C.
Dana, of Peoria, where she died of typhoid fever, eight
weeks afterwards; James M., then a lad of twelve, has
resided most of his life in Wyoming, prominent in business
circles, as a dealer in and manufacturer of agricultural
implements, &c. He married, Dec. 25th, 1847, Miss Ellen
White, also of Peoria.
At the time of the emigration hither, four daughters
were already married and presiding over homes of their own.
Of these but two lived to share for any length of time, the
vicissitudes of western life. Martha P., who was
married March 1st, 1834, to J. W. Agard, a native of
Tioga county, New York, from which place they removed, (as he
writes) "by Erie canal to Buffalo, thence to Detroit by steamer,
thence by United States mud scows to Chicago, arriving at
Wyoming Sept. 25th, 1836."
Here Mr. Agard opened a farm where part of the
town now stands, and resided there until 1845; he entered the
"itinerant work" in connection with the M. E. Church, and for
some years he held a prominent place in the conferences of that
body. But being a man of quiet and studious habits, an
independent thinker, and holding political opinions withal,
somewhat at variance with many of his brethren, he preferred to
withdraw from the more engrossing duties of his vocation, to the
quiet of his former home at Wyoming, where he might devote
himself more fully to the care of his wife, who had long been an
invalid from lung disease, and to which she finally succumbed,
Sept. 2d, 1870, regretted by all who knew her, and among whom
the memory of her fragile form, and gentle virtues will long
linger as a living reality.
Mary Anne, fourth daughter of General
Thomas, a gifted and beautiful woman, was married early
in life to Whitney Smith a native of Wilkesbarre,
Pennsylvania, with whom she lived many years at Wyoming.
But the union proving an unhappy one, a separation was effected,
and she was afterwards married to E. S. Brodhead, another
Stark county pioneer, widely known and highly esteemed by his
friends, for his genial manners and ready fund of wit and humor.
This gentleman died in Toulon, 1873, and the lady under
consideration is now married for the third time to Mr. Chase,
a man distinguished in political circles, and in the newspaper
world of New York.
Mrs. Thomas, wife of the general, closed
her long and eventful life, at the old homestead in Wyoming,
July 21st, 1865. She suffered a protracted and painful
illness, falling a victim to consumption, a scourge that has
proven fatal to many of her descendants. She was a lady
who fought life's battles with a quiet courage no hardships
could subdue, yet wore her honors meekly. Her home was
ever the abode of a refined yet generous hospitality which must
have often been taxed to the utmost during the first settlement
of the country, but no one recalls an instance where her
kindness failed. The pioneer preachers of her faith were
especially indebted to her for the comforts of a home,, when
engaged in the wearing and arduous duties of their calling.
But we return to the central figure of this group (whom
it will be remembered we left on his newly entered land in 1885)
that we may briefly review his course during the forty years he
has lived among us. Politically the General has been an
unswerving adherent of democracy — the democracy of Jackson
and Douglas. Never seeking office, or condescending
to the arts of the demigogue, or making his opinions offensive
to those who differ from him, still he has been a tower of
strength to his party. Having been a voter since 1808, he
must remember the election of Jefferson and Burr—doubtless
voted for Madison and Clinton, for Monroe,
Jackson, and Van Buren, besides a host of
later if not lesser lights. Few indeed live to exercise
this great right of freemen, the elective franchise, through
such a term of years, and he stands before us to-day erect and
venerable, without the shadow of a vice to darken his age, his
faculties (with the single exception of the sense of hearing),
all in full play, a remarkable instance of the poet's idea of "a
green old age."
In 1846, he represented this district in the
legislature, the only time so far as known to the writer he has
ever accepted an office in this state, having devoted his
attention to the quiet but lucrative pursuits of agriculture and
trade. In faith, a Methodist, he was with his wife a
member of the first "class" ever organized in the county, (which
met in the log school house in the Essex settlement, often
referred to on these pages), and the first organized in Wyoming
met regularly at his house, where " circuit preaching" was also
heard for years. In the fall of 1837, he donated one and a
half acres of land for a parsonage, which was built by George
Sparr following year. In 1856, he also gave land,
whereon to place the Methodist Episcopal church, which was built
and dedicated the same year. The latter service being
performed by Rev. J. W. Flowers, of Rock Island.
At a very early day General Thomas bequeathed to
the public, grounds for the burial of the dead, which constitute
the Wyoming cemetery still in use. Thus has he continued
to testify from time to tijue his devotion to public interests,
and the highest good of his fellow men. Wyoming is
peculiarly the offspring of his enterprise and forecast.
Founded and named by him in honor of his eastern home, he has
always shared its fortunes with unwavering fidelity. While
for many years the tide of prosperity ebbed, and others lost
faith and sought better localities for business, he swerved not,
but continued to invest his means in farms, nulls, manufactures,
anything that would aid in securing the future importance of the
town. And it can but be a source of satisfaction
to all right minded people, that he has lived to see his hopes
realized to a large degree.
To see two railroads, bring commerce and wealth to its
doors, depots, warehouses, mills, &c, all all elements of
financial success springing up around him; a coal trade opened,
second only in value to the agricultural products of the region
it supplies. And now he naturally feels, at the age of
eighty-eight, his life work is nearly done. For one who
reared a large family to maturity, he will leave comparatively
few descendants. Four grandsons, however, survive to transmit
his name to future generations, while among the descendants of
his eldest daughter, Mrs. Dennis, in California,
it is reported there is a great-great-grandchild; known to the
writer, however, are but two grand-daughters, Mrs.
Marcia White of Castleton, and Mrs. Louisa
McKenzie of Galesburg.
Many loved ones he has followed to the grave, indeed;
he and his faithful friend and son-in-law, Rev. J. A. Agard,
remain sole remnants of two kindred groups, still inhabiting the
old home near Spoon river, endeared by the associations of more
than forty years—the general calmly awaiting the summons, "come
up higher," for"The curtain half lifted
reveals to his sight
The windows that look on the kingdom of light,
That border the river of death."
Source: Stark County and It's Pioneers -
Published 1876 - Pp. 197-201 |
| TURNBULL AND OLIVER FAMILIES Source: Stark County and
It's Pioneers - Published 1876 - Page 246 |
NOTES:
|
